Gas turbine engines may be used to power various systems. For example, gas turbine engines may be used to power aircraft, ships and electrical generators. FIG. 1 illustrates a gas turbine engine 10 for an aircraft according to an example. The gas turbine engine 10 has a principal and rotational axis 11 and comprises, in axial flow series, an air intake 12, a propulsive fan 13, an intermediate pressure compressor 14, a high-pressure compressor 15, combustion equipment 16, a high-pressure turbine 17, and intermediate pressure turbine 18, a low-pressure turbine 19, and an exhaust nozzle 20. A nacelle 21 generally surrounds the engine 10 and defines both the intake 12 and the exhaust nozzle 20.
In operation, air entering the intake 12 is accelerated by the fan 13 to produce two air flows: a first air flow into the intermediate pressure compressor 14 and a second air flow which passes through a bypass duct 22 to provide propulsive thrust. The intermediate pressure compressor 14 compresses the air flow directed into it before delivering that air to the high pressure compressor 15 where further compression takes place.
The compressed air exhausted from the high-pressure compressor 15 is directed into the combustion equipment 16 where it is mixed with fuel and the mixture combusted. The resultant hot combustion products then expand through, and thereby drive the high, intermediate and low-pressure turbines 17, 18, 19 before being exhausted through the nozzle 20 to provide additional propulsive thrust. The high 17, intermediate 18 and low 19 pressure turbines drive respectively the high pressure compressor 15, intermediate pressure compressor 14 and fan 13, each by a suitable interconnecting shaft.
Modelling a gas turbine engine may be a time consuming process and require significant human resources due to the complex structure of the gas turbine engine. For example, a gas turbine engine may be modelled using a traditional computer aided design (CAD) package whereby the model is generated by assembling components. Where a part of a component, a component, or an assembly of components are moved within the model, other parts, components and/or assemblies may require moving within the model as a result. Such an operation may be a time consuming task and require a high level of precision in re-positioning components.